You're Not Alone, Charlie Brown
by Neon-Ronin
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Charlie Brown's feeling pretty blah, that nobody really likes him or cares. Then again, maybe somebody out there does like him quite a bit, and he just hasn't noticed it yet.


-1 Disclaimer: Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang are the creations of the late, great Charles M. Schulz. I've merely borrowed them for a moment or two to illustrate one of life's little lessons… read on to find out what that lesson is. For this story, I've referenced a prior event that happened in the animated **_Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown_**, but all other references apply strictly to the comic. The Little Red-Haired Girl did move away at one point in the strip, yet reappeared later; for the sake of the story, she has not moved back at all. Enjoy.

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**You're Not Alone, Charlie Brown**

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It was a brisk, cloudy day typical of mid-February. A light breeze wafted through the trees and down sidewalks, not quite enough for a heavy jacket but just right for sweaters and windbreakers. It had lightly snowed the previous week, but a warming trend had gotten most of it already and the clouds didn't appear to be threatening more snow or rain. All in all, a relatively pleasant day in late winter.

Children were spilling out of the schoolyard, chatting and laughing and in some cases trading small greeting cards amongst one another. Some were carrying shoeboxes decorated with glitter, paper or red heart-shaped stickers, each part of the class holiday project and usually bristling with envelopes. Others were busy wolfing down various treats that had been handed out at lunch, in particular the traditional hard candy hearts in individual boxes. Patty, Violet and Frieda had congregated by the jungle gym and were taking the time to read each of the messages on their candy hearts- an activity which was briefly interrupted when Pig-Pen sauntered by, downing his candy hearts like popcorn. Violet sneered that he wasn't taking the time to appreciate his candies; Patty and Frieda were too busy dealing with the dust he had stirred up to agree with her.

In the opposite direction of the playground, a lone round-headed kid was trudging home, a crudely decorated shoebox mailbox under one arm and his eyes firmly focused on his feet.

He could hear some of his classmates behind him, comparing how many cards they had received or how good the teachers' cupcakes had tasted. It only reminded him of the madhouse the classroom had been when the treats came out, and the mad scramble for those very same cupcakes when it became apparent the teachers had only made so many. They'd baked just enough cupcakes for every student to have one, they had said… and somehow, he still hadn't gotten one.

Charlie Brown heaved a long year of a sigh and kept walking. "Rats," he murmured quietly to nobody in particular. "No cupcake, a box of bad candies…" He looked sadly at the package of heart-shaped candies in his hand, candies that didn't have _any_ endearments printed on them. The look shifted from his half-eaten candies to the shoebox under his arm, and he sighed again. "And here I thought it might've been different this year. The start of something big for ol' Charlie Brown…" He shook his head and slowed his pace a tad. "Ol' wishy-washy Charlie Brown… why'd I even bother making this, anyway?"

His feet slowed to a crawl as he came to a low wall near the sidewalk… his 'contemplation spot' as he privately called it. He stopped and put the shoebox on top of the wall and shook his head again, giving it a good long look. It was rough in places, and he'd torn a few stickers making it, but it wasn't the _most_ horrible-looking Valentine box, he thought quietly to himself. He looked at it for a long, quiet moment… and then something inside him caused his eyes to brighten ever so slightly.

It was a stupid notion, he had to admit… senseless, even… but a tiny part of him said it was worth a shot. _Maybe,_ he pondered haltingly, _just maybe, under one of the flaps inside… there might be one Valentine that got stuck and I just haven't seen or felt it yet…_ Eventually the urge became too strong and he flipped the lid open, fingers scouring the inside of the box for several frantic seconds. They delved into every corner, under each of the cardboard flaps, even along the underside of the lid. Then, just as quickly as they had brightened, his eyes dimmed again.

"Nothing," he groaned. Indeed, the box was completely, disgustingly empty… just as it had been the previous three times he had searched it. He put the lid back on, folded his arms on the wall and sank forward. "Just like last year, and the year before that… why do I keep building myself up for this when I know it'll just be the same again and again?" He sniffed and looked away from the shoebox, trying not to cry.

"What's the matter, Charlie Brown?"

Charlie Brown looked up, his frown fading a bit at the sight of Linus joining him by the wall with his own shoebox under one arm. "Oh, it's just the same old story," he said with a half-hearted shrug. "Another holiday that just serves to remind me how completely _blah_ I am." He rested his chin on one hand as Linus leaned on the wall next to him. "It's bad enough knowing it; why do we have to have another day of the year to emphasize it all over again?"

Linus nodded slowly. "I'm guessing the Valentine's Day school party didn't turn out like you thought it would?" Charlie Brown nodded, but didn't say anything. "Well, it had to have been at least as good as last year, right?"

"Nope." He shook his head miserably. "Last year, at least I got a used Valentine… this year, all I got was this." He reached into the pocket of his windbreaker and pulled out an index card with some words hastily scribbled on it. Linus took the card, rolling his eyes as he quickly recognized the handwriting.

"A Valentine's Day message: Grow up and stop acting like every little problem is the end of the world, you blockhead."

"She included the address and hours of her psychiatric help booth, too," Charlie Brown grumbled. "Your sister has quite the bedside manner."

"Tell me about it; she was putting these in every class's Valentine boxes, even the lower grades." Linus handed the card back and pulled an identical one out of his jacket. "Here's the one she gave me- 'grow up and get rid of that stupid blanket or I'll do it for you'. A more caring sister, I have never met," he finished with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"If she's trying to drum up business, she might be succeeding." Charlie Brown paused, then ran one finger along the top of his mailbox.

"That's the only thing I found in here all day… no _real_ Valentines, not even a secondhand one. Just… nothing. Schroeder, Shermy, Pig-Pen, they all got Valentine cards, but not me. And I gave a card out to just about everyone in class, too…"

Linus shrugged. "Maybe it's just an oversight. Last year, you didn't get that one Valentine until after the party was over…"

"It's not just that. It's just…" He paused, then turned to face Linus more directly. "Everyone else was having so much fun at lunchtime, when the teachers brought the snacks out, and there I was on the sidelines again. There was so much pushing and shoving, I barely got anything to eat at all." Another long sigh. "It just seems like everybody has more to smile about at this time of year than I do…"

Charlie Brown paused abruptly as both he and Linus caught sight of a rather unusual spectacle. Right in front of the wall, Snoopy, in black tie and tails- with a stylish walking cane, no less- was escorting a lady beagle with a carnation behind one ear down the sidewalk. They passed the wall, then turned and headed towards a ring of trees where Woodstock and several of his kin were busy setting up a dining table, complete with candelabra and an avian violinist.

Charlie Brown rolled his eyes. "See, even my own dog is having a better Valentine's Day than me." He cast one last look at the beagle couple now being serenaded by Woodstock, then slung his shoebox under one arm and started walking again.

"I don't know, Linus. I guess I shouldn't really mind it so much, I should be used to it… but I'm not. I build up a lot of hopes, and then everything falls apart."

"That's kind of a blanket statement, isn't it?" Linus asked, walking beside him. "I don't think I'd go so far as to say _everything_ falls apart."

"Well, that's how it feels, anyway." They turned a corner and started along a row of houses. "I don't know why I even brought this shoebox today… none of the people I'd ever wanted a card from in my life were there in the first place. But then again, it probably wouldn't have mattered if they had been there, right?" Another long sigh escaped him. "I mean, it's not like the Little Red-Haired Girl ever really knew I existed, we hardly spoke at all before she moved away. And it wasn't much better with Peggy Jean; she probably would've known me as 'Brownie Charles' for all time." He bowed his head and looked at his feet, still walking. "All I really wanted was one card from someone who really cared about me… but who'd ever want to send a card to a kid who doesn't have any friends and loses every ball game he pitches?"

Just then he felt a tug on his arm as Linus gently pulled him to a stop. "Charlie Brown, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm afraid Lucy may be right."

"Huh?"

"About how you act like every problem is the end of the world. If you ask me, you're blowing this all out of proportion, not to mention being overly down on yourself. I think Solomon said it best in Proverbs 17:22- 'A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones'."

Charlie Brown stared blankly. "Um… so what does that mean?"

"It means you're letting the bad things get to you, and the more you dwell on them the worse you feel. Saying everything around you falls apart, or focusing on your faults instead of your merits can't possibly be good for you." Linus shrugged. "So you didn't have as good a time at the lunch party as you thought you would; I'll bet there were some kids today who didn't even have a party at their school. Right?"

"Uh… gee, I hadn't thought about that, but…"

"And as far as Valentines go, sometimes they can be highly overrated," Linus continued. "My classroom's got two girls and at least three boys who can't _stand_ Valentines; one of the girls said it makes the holiday 'too commercial', and I'm inclined to agree with her." He paused, then put a hand on Charlie Brown's shoulder. "I know that probably doesn't make it feel any better, but I still think it was probably an honest mistake. And you shouldn't take this 'no card' thing as a sign that you don't have friends, either."

"Even if it feels like it the rest of the year?" Charlie Brown replied as they started walking again. "People certainly don't seem to have a problem with pointing it out when I make a mistake. I know your sister enjoys it."

"She enjoys finding fault with everybody," said Linus as he buried his hands in his jacket pockets. "Plus, you only have to deal with Lucy for part of the day; me and Rerun have to share a house with her." He chuckled humorlessly. "But that aside, like I said, you shouldn't be saying that you don't have friends when that just isn't true, Charlie Brown."

"But every time I turn around, I'm being called 'wishy-washy' or 'blockhead' or some other name," Charlie Brown protested. "And it's not like I don't deserve it- I'm terrible at baseball, lousy at football, I can't even get a kite to stay in the air- why do I even keep trying when I know it's not going to work out?"

"That's simple… it's because there's a part of you, deep inside, beyond all the doubt and worry that hopes that the next time will be the time it works out." Linus turned to face him as they paused near a small sapling. "Okay, so maybe you have had a string of bad luck here and there. So maybe you've had to deal with that kite-eating tree every year, but that doesn't stop you from trying again. Or even with the times we've lost our baseball games 43 to nothing, you still come back and you tell the rest of us we can beat the other team. I know some people who would give up after just _one_ failure, but you don't give up. It's not in your nature, Charlie Brown, you're not a quitter. And that sort of dedication and optimism is a pretty admirable thing."

Charlie Brown said nothing for a long moment, but stood there taking in Linus' words. It was true, he _had_ been through a long string of failures, coupled with an even longer string of comeback attempts, and he had to admit what Linus said was true. There _was_ a part of him that hoped and prayed things would be different, even with all the losing seasons and destroyed kites to go with it. That same optimism that had made him dig madly through an empty Valentine box just a few moments before, looking for a card from anybody. "So… you don't think it's stupid to be hopeful like this?"

"I think it's stupid to _stop_ being hopeful," Linus replied. "And let me ask you this… if everyone really did dislike you, or think of you as nothing more than a blockhead, why would they keep sticking beside you on the baseball field when everything else is going wrong?"

Charlie Brown's eyes widened as Linus continued. "Think about it. Yes, we've had some bad luck in Little League, and maybe they do like to make stupid remarks about your pitching- I know Lucy's always been imaginative with her barbs- but, we've all stuck by you every season. We could have chosen another manager, but we haven't. And I know we had at least one incident when some of the players quit on you, but they came back, didn't they? Why would they do that if they really disliked the team- or you?"

He paused, then shrugged and smiled. "Friends don't give up on their friends that easily. I know I certainly wouldn't. As much as you might think it, you're not alone, Charlie Brown. You have more friends than you give yourself credit for- and friends don't stick with you because of what you can or can't do. They stay with you because you're a _good person_… which is what you are, at heart."

The frown on Charlie Brown's face started to disappear as he gradually absorbed more of what Linus had been saying. _He's right… they might have laughed at me, but they're still part of the team. They keep coming to play just like I do, even with all the bad games… good grief, even Lucy's tried to give me a few bits of advice at that booth of hers, even when she was making fun of me!_ He looked up. "You know something, Linus… I think you're right. Maybe I _am_ making this into more than it really is; maybe it really was just an oversight at the Valentine party today."

"Who knows," said Linus with a shrug as they started the last stretch towards their homes. "Sometimes things can happen when you least expect it. For all you know, there may be some girl out there right now who cares about you a great deal, but you just haven't noticed it yet."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Just keep your eyes open, Charlie Brown." Linus gave him a friendly smile, then stopped and reached into his jacket pocket.

"Oh, before I forget, could you give this to your sister for me?" He handed him a smallish white envelope, and Charlie Brown had to smirk when he saw what was written on it: _From your Sweet Babboo_.

"I thought you always say you're NOT her Sweet Babboo," he chuckled.

Linus shrugged. "Let's just say I decided to play along with it for now… hopefully it won't go to her head too much." He gave Charlie Brown a quick handshake and a reminder to 'keep your eyes open', then headed across the road towards his home. Charlie Brown waved a quick goodbye, letting a few last vestiges of frown fall away before heading towards his own home, no longer focusing his eyes on his feet.

_You really do have a way of cutting through the garbage, Linus,_ he mused. _Thanks._

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It wasn't long before he arrived home. Sally was already there, sitting on the floor and scribbling an extravagantly ornate Valentine on red construction paper- or at least as ornate as she could manage. "Hey, Big Brother, there's a letter for you." She pointed to the end table next to the sofa.

He drummed his feet to a halt so fast he almost left skid marks. "A… a letter for me? Really?"

"Well, it doesn't have a name on it, but I'm guessing it's for you; I'm pretty sure nobody's been calling _me_ 'Poor, sweet baby' at school, so…" She shrugged and went back to her Valentine-making.

Charlie Brown just stood there for a moment, not sure what to say or think. _Poor, sweet baby?_ His eyes strayed towards the end table, and sure enough, there was an envelope with the words **_For Poor, sweet baby_** written in a crude cursive. He picked it up and stared at it for a long moment- and then remembered he had another envelope in his hands. "Oh, uh… here, Sally, you got a letter too…"

Sally's head perked up. "A letter for me? Where?" She snatched the envelope out of his hands and gasped when she saw who it was from. "Oh, I KNEW it! I knew it I knew it I knew it! I KNEW my Sweet Babboo would remember this year, I knew it!" She tore open the envelope and pulled out a rather silly Garfield-themed Valentine with 'Happy Valentine's Day from Linus' written at the bottom. She practically squeaked with joy, hugging the card before spinning around and gathering up her card-making supplies. "Oh, I've gotta finish this quick before it's too late; I'll bet he's been expecting a card from me all day! Maybe he's even waiting to give me a Valentine's kiss outside!"

Charlie Brown barely noticed his sister waltzing off to her room to grab more art supplies; he was too busy looking over his own letter. Carefully he opened the envelope and reached inside, not knowing what to expect. A small part of him warned that it could be another practical joke, maybe Lucy's doing, but another part- the part that was stronger than he had thought, the hopeful part of him- told him this was no joke, that this was the real deal. Taking a deep breath, he took hold of the card inside and tugged.

There in his hands was a simple handmade card with red heart stickers along the edges and a Cupid at the top for good measure. The writing was a little rough in places, but the words were perfectly clear. **_Happy Valentine's Day. I know it's not much of a card, but I just wanted to let you know somebody out there likes you a lot- and hopes you feel the same way._** The note was not signed.

Charlie Brown stood by the table for several long moments, reading and re-reading the card. "A real Valentine… my first, really _real_ Valentine…" He sighed happily, then frowned. "And I don't even know who it's from… oh, good grief. So now I don't even know who to thank, or give them a Valentine in return, or…"

He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes traveled back to the envelope on the table, in particular the way it was addressed. The words _poor, sweet baby_ echoed in his mind, reminding him that he had always privately hoped some special girl would call him that. His brain shifted into first gear as he recalled a conversation about the kind of girl he hoped to marry someday- a girl who would call him by that very endearment, which he never voiced for fear of being called silly- and an instant later, he knew.

He knew exactly where this Valentine had come from. Part of him was unsure of how to react- the part of him that was so unfamiliar with a girl actually _liking_ him that it caused him to freeze up many a time- but another part quickly superseded that as he remembered Linus' words, _'keep your eyes open- things can happen when you least expect it'_. He shook his head and dashed off to his room to see if he had any leftover blank Valentine cards.

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"I dunno, Marcie. I guess it's just hard to enjoy a holiday like this when you know you're not getting much in the way of Valentines."

"_Didn't you get any cards at all, Sir?"_ came the voice on the other end of the phone, which prompted 'Peppermint' Patty to roll her eyes and groan.

"Stop calling me 'Sir', Marcie… and yeah, I did get a few cards, nothing really special. Just those dinky drugstore things that sell for a dozen for $1.50, that's all." She slouched further in the easy chair she was sitting in. "How about you?"

"_Oh, I got a few of those kind of cards as well, plus two nicer ones from Franklin and that new kid in class, and a small box of chocolate that didn't have a name, but simply said 'From a friend'."_

"Boy, you really know how to make a person's day brighter, Marcie," Patty grumbled.

"_Sorry, Sir… If you want, you can have the chocolates, I don't really need them…"_

"No, that's okay… but thanks, anyway." She turned her head and looked at a glass vase sitting on the coffee table, in particular at the six long-stemmed roses in said vase. "Well, at least I did get one nice Valentine's present, but I'm not so sure it counts if it's from your dad."

"_Well of course it counts, Sir; it shows how much your father really cares about you."_

"I know, I know…" Patty allowed herself a small smile as she toyed with a card that had been next to the roses. **_To my little rare gem, a very Happy Valentine's Day. Love always, Dad._** Several rooms down, she could hear her father humming as the smells of cooking wafted from the kitchen.

"I know Dad loves me, and I always love it when he gets me flowers or something else nice, like he did on my last birthday." She looked at the card a bit longer before her smile went away again. "I just wish someone else would do something like that for me, even a little something…"

"_Someone will. Who knows, maybe there's a Valentine on its way to you that hasn't arrived yet. Don't you think?"_

"Marcie, I really doubt that. What boy in his right mind would want to send a Valentine or flowers to a girl with mousy hair, freckles and a big nose?"

"_Your nose isn't really that big, Sir…"_

"Stop calling me 'Sir'!"

"_Sorry, Sir…"_ There was a short pause on the other end of the line. _"Anyway, if I were you I wouldn't write yourself off the list just yet. What about Charles? I know you wrote him a card, he might be writing you one in return."_

"Chuck?" Patty paused for a moment, then shook her head. "I doubt it; he probably figures that note came from the Little Red-Haired Girl, not a Plain Jane like me… besides, I figured you were hoping to surprise him with a better Valentine anyhow," she added sourly.

There was another pause. _"Actually, Sir, I didn't really have anything special in mind for Charles. I did send him a card, but I didn't get it out until late so he won't get it until tomorrow- and it wasn't much of a card actually, just a friendly thing."_

Patty sat up. "Huh? Wait, did you say what I think you did? Just a 'friendly thing'? Excuse me, but I thought you told me once that if Chuck asked you, you'd marry him…"

"_That was a while back,"_ said Marcie. _"Charles is a nice boy and all, and I do like him… but I've been doing some thinking and I'm not so sure we really have that much in common. Of course, I can't tell for sure whom he really likes, and I'd be very flattered if he DID like me… but just for now, I'd be happy just being a friend."_ She paused, and one could almost hear the smirk in her voice when she continued. _"Besides, I'd rather be a friend to both of you than a third wheel, Sir."_

A noise from the background wafted through the phone. _"Oh, sorry, I've got to go now. Mom wants me to help set the table for dinner. Happy Valentine's Day, Sir."_

"Huh? Wait a minute, Marcie, what do you mean a 'third wheel'? What's that supposed to mean? Hello? HELLO?" But she had already hung up. Patty stared at the phone receiver in her hand, groaned and finally slid it back onto its cradle. "I swear, that Marcie gets weirder every time I talk to her…"

There was a knock on the door. She blinked, then heaved herself out of the chair. "I'll get it, Dad," she hollered as she jogged out of the living room and into the foyer. _Probably some kid hawking Girl Scout cookies or something,_ she thought quietly as she turned the knob and pulled the door open. "Yeah, what do you…"

"Hi, Patty." Her eyes widened and her jaw seemed determined to hang open a few notches.

"Oh! Uh…" She shook her head and smoothed out her bangs with a swiping motion, trying to cover up her initial surprise. "Hey there, Chuck… how ya been?"

"Oh, you know… the usual…" Charlie Brown scuffed the heel of one shoe back and forth on the doorstep, his hands behind his back. His face was an unreadable mix- part happy, part confused and part nervous all rolled up into one. "I was in the neighborhood and… well… thought I'd stop and say hi."

Patty, for her part, was scuffing the heel of her sandal back and forth. "In the neighborhood, huh? And what'd bring you all the way to the other side of town, Chuck? Seems a bit of a hike just to say hi." Her voice held a veneer of her usual bravado, masking a private worry.

"Well… yeah, it is a bit of a hike…" He laughed nervously, then cleared his throat. "Actually… I was just curious about something, wondered if you could help me out with it."

"Oh. Uh… and what would that be?" She narrowed her eyes and smirked. "You're not planning to try trading Lucy to our team again, are you Chuck? It's not even ball season yet." _Oh good grief, why'd I say that? Great time to make jokes, Peppermint Patty, he could be upset about the note… maybe he knows the note's from me and came all this way just to give it back…_

"No, this isn't about baseball- besides, no other team wants Lucy." He smirked in return, prompting a laugh out of them both. "The thing is… I got a letter today."

"Really."

"Thing is, it wasn't signed. So it's making it a bit tricky to figure out where it came from; I mean, you like to know who's sending you mail." He reached up and scratched the back of his head. "There's a part of me that thinks you might happen to know about it. So…" His eyes slowly traveled up until they met hers. "Would you know about it?"

_Oh no. Now I can't tell if he knows it's from me or if he's just being clueless again…_ Patty chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "Gee, Chuck, what makes you think I'd know about some anonymous Valentine?"

"I never said it was a Valentine," Charlie Brown replied. "I just said it was a letter." A tiny part of him smirked inwardly as Patty froze in place and turned a rather obvious shade of red.

"Okay… you got me," she relented, nodding slowly. "So how'd you figure me out?"

"'Poor, sweet baby'. I'll admit I had to think a bit before I remembered, but you were the only person I could think of that I'd mentioned those words to. Once I remembered that, it wasn't too hard." He paused, then smirked. "And if I remember correctly, you'd told me a girl wouldn't call me that…"

"Oh, well, you know… I was just trying to think of some way to address it so that, uh… it'd be anonymous and all…" She smiled awkwardly, then her shoulders sagged and she looked away.

"Anyway… yeah, sorry you didn't get that letter from someone nicer, or prettier… just plain ol' me…"

"Patty?" She blinked, then looked up again slowly. "I never said I was hoping to get it from someone else. I just wanted to make sure I got it from who I thought sent it." Charlie Brown shuffled his foot again and smiled a bit awkwardly. "It's probably the first real Valentine anybody ever sent me, especially after the day I had… and I'm glad I got it from you, too."

Patty blinked. "Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel good, are you, Chuck?"

He shook his head. "I mean it. That's why I came over, Patty. I wanted to say thank you." He paused, then took a deep breath and pulled his hands from behind his back. "And… I also wanted to give you this," he added, offering a small white envelope in his right hand. Patty took it and opened the flap; inside was a simple card-shop Valentine, a bit cartoonish but in reasonably good taste. "I know it's not handmade like the one you sent me, but I didn't really have time to make one… plus I'm not very good at arts and crafts. I'm sure you probably got better Valentines than this, but…"

He was interrupted by a sniffle. Looking up, he saw a smile spreading over Peppermint Patty's face as she was reading the card; while he couldn't be certain, he almost thought he saw a tear in one eye.

"'Dear Patty- thank you for just being you. Happy Valentine's Day- from Chuck'." She sniffed again, folded the card closed and looked up. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"I know the feeling," said Charlie Brown. "I've been tongue-tied so many times in my life, my tongue has a permanent Granny knot in it." He chuckled awkwardly, coaxing a brief giggle out of Patty as well. "Um… I hope that means you like it… I'm just not that used to responding to genuine Valentines, or anybody actually liking me enough to send one like the one you sent me, I always figure I'll screw something up or…"

"Chuck, slow down," Patty admonished. "It's okay; you don't have to blurt it all out. I know what you're getting at- I've been there myself once or twice." She looked down at the card again, then back up at him. "Fact is, I haven't had much luck in the Valentine department myself…" She sniffled again. "This really means a lot to me. Thanks, Chuck…" Something inside her snapped at that moment and she took a big step forward, catching Charlie Brown in a fierce hug. Charlie Brown, for his part, froze up in shock for a few seconds- and then, hesitantly, put his own arms around her, gradually returning the hug until they were evenly matched, their chins on each other's shoulders.

Eventually, Patty stirred. "You always have kinda liked me, haven't you, Chuck?" she asked, with only a hint of her usual bravado.

"Well… I guess. It's kinda hard not to like someone as outgoing and friendly as you, Patty."

"Even if I'm not anywhere near the level of the Little Red-Haired Girl?" she continued in a slightly sadder tone.

"Who's that?" That comment got both of them giggling. "If I were you, I'd be more concerned about being friends with some wishy-washy kid who can't pitch a ball properly to save his life."

She shrugged, a bit tricky to do seeing as she was still hugging him. "I wouldn't worry about that too much, Chuck… you're a good guy, really. And a little wishy-washyness never hurt that much."

"Thanks Patty." Slowly he eased back so they were looking each other face to face again. "And thanks for putting up with some of my more clueless times."

"Anytime." She paused, then glanced back towards the still-open front door. The smell of tomato sauce and spice was wafting through the hallways. "Hey… I know this is kinda out of the blue, and I don't know what you've got planned at home, but… how'd you like to have dinner with us? My dad's job switched him over to morning shifts, so he's home a lot sooner; he's making his world-famous lasagna tonight." She smiled hopefully, then a sudden thought crossed her mind about being too pushy- a thing she'd been guilty of in the past on more than one occasion. "I mean, if you want to, that is… your mom's probably already got something ready for you and Sally, but I just thought maybe…"

"Sure, Patty, I'd like that. If it's okay with your dad, that is." Charlie Brown wasn't sure why or how, but he didn't feel as awkward as he had so many other times, when Patty had flirted with him or dropped hints that he'd been too clueless, at the time, to pick up. It didn't feel like he was being railroaded or pushed into something he didn't want, either- for the first time in his life, it felt like something was going right. "Can I use your phone real quick? I'd better tell my parents so they won't worry."

"You got it. C'mon in, I'll show you where it is." She took him by the hand and led him inside.

_That Chuck,_ she mused quietly. _You think you know him, then he goes and gives you something nice like that- and he didn't even mention some other crush of his._ Her smile brightened another notch. _Maybe I'm not so ugly after all._

_Boy- it really is like Linus said,_ Charlie Brown was pondering at the same time. _I focused so much on the bad things, I never noticed some of the good things around me. Wasting all that time pining over one thing or another…_ He picked up the phone and dialed. _Maybe this really is the start of something big._

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"You look like you're in a good mood today, Charlie Brown."

Charlie Brown nodded; he and Linus were walking to the bus stop, and he hadn't looked at his feet once all morning. In fact, he felt like he was literally walking on air. "You were absolutely right, Linus. All I had to do was keep my eyes open."

"Really? So what happened after I saw you last?"

"I went home, and I got a Valentine. A REAL Valentine, not a secondhand one, from someone who said she liked me a lot and hoped I felt the same way."

"You see, Charlie Brown? I knew there had to be somebody out there with a card with your name on it." Linus shifted his lunchbox from one hand to the other. "So who was it from?"

"Guess."

"Um… the Little Red-Haired Girl?"

"Nope."

"Peggy Jean?"

"Nope. Try again, you'll never guess."

Linus smiled a knowing smile. "In that case, I'd have to guess it was 'Peppermint' Patty."

Charlie Brown boggled. "Uh… y-yeah, it was her… how'd you know?"

Linus shrugged innocently and looked away. "Oh, just a wild theory." He didn't remind Charlie Brown of the conversation they'd had some time ago, when both Patty and Marcie had written to him from camp and he had had no idea how to react to the sudden attention of two girls. "Like I said, Charlie Brown- you just have to keep your eyes open."

"Yeah, I guess you do." He paused, then reached into his jacket pocket and took a few small cards out. "I also got a few more Valentines in the mail this morning- one from Marcie, which she just signed 'your good friend', and another secondhand card with an apology from Violet and Frieda for forgetting yesterday."

"See? Delayed mail, I told you that might be the cause."

"I guess I was a lot more down than I thought yesterday," Charlie Brown pondered as he put the cards away. "Then all this starts happening at once- maybe I was wrong. Maybe this really _is_ the year my luck changes." He paused, then blinked as he remembered something. "By the way- did you get my sister's card?"

"Ohhhh, yes," Linus groaned. "Something tells me I shouldn't have signed the card I gave her 'Sweet Babboo'. She send me something so extravagant it looked like a wedding invitation- and I'm not so sure it wasn't one, either!" They turned the corner and started the last stretch toward the bus stop. Schroeder was already standing there, humming quietly to himself.

"Oh, Schroooeeeederrrrr…"

Charlie Brown and Linus drummed their feet to a halt several yards from the bus stop. They glanced behind them; Lucy was marching up the pavement with a purpose, pushing Linus aside as she passed. The two boys just stood and watched as Lucy ambled up next to a newly annoyed Schroeder.

"What do you want now, Lucy?"

Lucy folded her hands demurely and batted her eyelashes. "Oh, I just wanted to thank you for the lovely diamond earrings you gave me for Valentine's Day yesterday."

Schroeder blinked, confused. "I didn't give you any diamond earrings…"

"I'LL SAY YOU DIDN'T!!!" she bellowed loud enough to make the young pianist flip three times in the air before crashing to the ground. That done, she turned up her nose and marched past him, stood next to the bus stop sign and grumbled. Schroeder didn't say anything, but lay on the sidewalk dazed and confused.

Linus groaned. "That's my sister for you… only voice I know that can stun a moose at twenty paces."

"I HEARD THAT!" An instant later, Linus became a blur, hightailing it back the way he came with Lucy hot on his heels.

Charlie Brown simply shook his head and sighed. "I guess some things around here will never change," he murmured as he walked up to the stop sign and waited, both for the bus and for the Van Pelt siblings to return from their latest tussle. He reached into his pocket and took out another card- the one he had received the day before. He read it over again, smiling all the while and thinking about a certain sandal-wearing tomboy.

_Then again, a few changes here and then wouldn't do any harm._

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**The End**

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Author's Note: I've always felt something of a kinship to good ol' Charlie Brown, and with Valentine's Day upon us I thought the poor guy deserved a little break. Some of you might be wondering if what I've written is out of character, and in some cases it may be- but the truth is, if nobody said anything he'd probably spend his days pining over lost causes and wondering why nobody likes him. Linus, being his best friend and the resident philosopher(not to mention theologian), seemed the best choice for voice of reason.

Why not put Marcie more actively into the mix? I'll admit the idea had occurred to me, given that both she and 'Peppermint' Patty have been vocal about their feelings for Charlie Brown. But Marcie always felt, to me, like a less likely match- and in the strip, she has backed down in favor of Patty on at least one occasion. On a camping trip, Marcie got a letter from Charlie Brown and Patty didn't, after both had written to him, leaving Patty very upset. Marcie's words when she found out: 'Would you like to push me into the lake, Sir?' It seems she is well aware of Patty's true feelings, even when Patty herself can't admit them, thus I moved her into the role of 'advisor over the phone'. Who knows what, if anything, will happen further down the line- this story, being a one-shot, leaves that potential open-ended. I leave that for you to decide.

The point herein- there's a lot of people, like Patty and 'Chuck', who don't see themselves for who they are, or think nobody cares about them. More often than not, that's not true, but we're so wrapped up in our own insecurities that we can't see it. All it takes is a little nudge, or keeping our eyes open, and we'll see- we're not as alone as we think we are.

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody- and good luck to every wishy-washy one of us. Until next time.

Neon Ronin


End file.
